Fairytales and First Dates
by Dr. Austin A. Winchester
Summary: Her life could not be compared to the fairytales she had grown up admiring and she would never know what it's like to be swept off her feet by Prince Charming. But, her life was better than those fairytales. Austin and Ally's date is very unconventional and nothing like a fairytale, but neither one would change a thing. The sequel to Ex Exes.


Fairy tales tell, as their labels imply, stories of magic, of creature that fly. With giants and dragons and ogres and elves and inanimate objects that speak for themselves, there's romance and danger and plotting of schemes. There's good guys and bad guys and some guys in between. A fairy tale also reveals some sort of truth. The perils of choices we face in our youth.

It might have been a movie solely designed for children, but seventeen year old Ally Dawson loved _Ella Enchanted. _There was a lot of magic and plenty of adventures. Not to mention the beautifully blossomed romance between Ella and Char was enough to make any hopeless romantic swoon.

Unfortunately, Ally wasn't a brave heroine thrown into an adventurous quest with elves, ogres, and giants as companions. No, she was a simple teenager working at a music store in Miami, Florida. Besides the only adventures she had, always seemed to involve the trouble that seemed to follow Austin, Dez, and Trish like an ominous rain cloud wherever they went. Not to mention, her boyfriend was nowhere near as charming as Prince Charmont.

While charming, Austin Moon was no prince charming.

Prince Charming was generally portrayed as the perfect gentleman. He was not only quite handsome, but he was smart, adventurous, and brave as he rescued the princess. Not to mention, he was quite romantic, helping the princess up on his noble steed so they could ride off into the sunset together.

Instead, she got Austin Moon, whose idea of asking her out was, "I want you back" and the perfect date was playing video games in Dez's basement. Also, he claimed that his greatest adventure was winning the pancake eating competition at _Jack's Flapjacks. _Not to mention, his favorite school subject was lunch.

No, Austin Moon could never be compared to Prince Charming. Which Ally was grateful for, because if Austin was charming like Prince Charming, her love story would be the way she had always envisioned it. Perfect, predictable, and downright dull.

Instead, her love story was crazy, fun, and very unpredictable.

Pushing her ombre hair behind her ear, Ally sighed as she continued thinking about Austin. It was weird to picture herself being his girlfriend again. They had gone through so much together as just friends and Ally would be lying if she wasn't a little bit afraid that their second try at a relationship would be just as awkward as the last. Having only been his girlfriend a day now, things hadn't of had time to get awkward. Yet.

Before her thoughts could continue down the road they were headed, she saw Austin dance through the front doors of Sonic Boom. A smile lit up his face. He frowned when he saw her leaning on the counter waiting for him. Sauntering over to the counter to her, he looked her up and down.

Ally frowned at his actions, wondering what the boy was up to. He never acted this way before. He was always happy to see her. Oh no, Ally thought. This was the beginning of the derailment of their second try at being lovers.

"So," Austin drawled. "Have you seen my girlfriend? I know she works here and she looks a lot like you," he stated, his frown turning into a grin as he pointed to her. He continued. "But I don't remember her being quite so beautiful."

Ally's grin spread across her face and made her bright brown eyes light up. "Austin," she said quietly, a blush darkening her cheeks. She leaned closer to him.

His body leaned in closer to hers. "I'm kidding," he replied, his voice low. "I knew it was you all along."

His lips seemed drawn to hers and Ally was practically counting down the milliseconds it would take for his lips to crash onto hers. Unfortunately, before their lips met, Austin sighed, pulling away.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, his eyes downcast as he stared at the smooth wooden top of the counter. "I forgot we're supposed to be taking things slowly."

Smiling, Ally reached out to him, stroking his cheek. Feeling her feather light gentle touch, Austin looked up so his eyes met hers. "Just kiss me already," she grinned, leaning in closer to him so their foreheads were almost touching.

Austin didn't have to be told to kiss her twice. After she commanded him to kiss her, his lips were on hers faster than a prowling cat on his prey.

The kiss was soft and short, nothing like the other handful kisses they've shared in the past. It lasted a little longer than the first kiss they've ever shared together did. But it didn't last as long and it wasn't as intensely passion filled as the kiss they shared during Dez's rockumentary. In a few short seconds, it was over and both teenagers pulled away, smiling. Ally's blush intensified, turning her cheeks a dark crimson color.

It was amazing how Austin could make her feel, Ally mused. He made her feel like she was on top of the world and the most important person in it. The butterflies in her stomach weren't just lightly fluttering their wings. They were beating their wings as fast as a hummingbird and crashing against their confines as if they were trying to break free.

Which she hoped they didn't because she didn't want to lose her lunch in front of him.

Placing his hands on the counter, Austin used his upper body strength to propel himself upward as he jumped over the counter to be closer to her. Surprised by his actions, Ally jumped backwards. She was still smiling.

Shaking her head, she turned away from him. "I have work to do Austin," she said, grabbing a cleaning rag to polish the brass instruments out on display.

"Wait," Austin said, grabbing her wrist and pulled her back to him. "Just tell me what you're doing on Saturday."

"Working."

"Nope," Austin replied with a shake of his head. "You're spending the afternoon with me at the museum."

Ally's smile returned as she looked at him questionably. "Austin Monica Moon, are you asking me out on our second first date?"

Placing a kiss on her nose, Austin returned the smile. "Why yes, Allyson I still don't know your middle name Dawson, I am."

Dropping the cleaning rag, Ally wrapped her arms around his neck. "Of course, I'll go with you Austin," she smiled, though her brows were furrowed in confusion. "But you hate museums."

Austin had already dropped her wrist. "Ally!" he exclaimed, animatedly talking with his hands to emphasize his point. "There's a new exhibit about iconic musicians like The Beatles! Like I wouldn't want to see it!"

Ally laughed, her laughter ringing like little bells.

Man, was her laughter contagious. It was just one thing on the extremely long list of things Austin liked about her.

"Awe."

Surprised to learn that they were not alone, the unsuspecting couple jumped apart and turned around to see Dez and Trish entering through the back door of Sonic Boom.

"You two are so cute together," Trish commented with a smile. Her smile quickly turned into a frown as if she was impersonating Grumpy Cat. "It makes me sick."

"I'm just glad I can finally wear this shirt," Dez commented, gesturing to the lime green t-shirt which read _Team Auslly _in big, bold lettering that he was wearing.

Rolling her eyes at the goofiness of her friends, Ally picked up the cleaning rag again. Smiling, she whispered to Austin, "And now all of Miami knows we're back together." Seeing Austin's smile, Ally's smile grew bigger. Then she left the counter and began polishing the instruments to tidy up the displays.

**xXx**

Life couldn't get any better and Austin Moon didn't want it to. Ally Dawson had agreed to be his girlfriend again and they were going out on another date. There was no possible reason that this date could turn out as big as a disaster as their first date had been either. Intimate dinners were out of the question this time around to try to avoid the awkwardness. That's why Austin opted to take her to the museum for a casual date. Once they were more comfortable dating, they could go on more intimate dates. They could worry about songwriting later. It wasn't like he had any gigs lined up anyways.

His happiness was easy to tell as he stepped through the front door of his house, lighting the room up. His mother who was sipping on coffee smiled at her son's exuberance.

Ever since he arrived home yesterday, the teenager had been all smiles as he gaily announced that he and Ally were back together. Mimi was glad to hear that bit of news. Ally Dawson was a nice girl and a good influence on Austin. Not only that, but Mimi could see just how fast her little boy was growing up. He'd grown up a lot faster since he had met Ally Dawson. Not to mention the beautiful teenage girl was by far the most important person in Austin's life as he talked about her all the time.

She didn't care much for the girl's father, but she liked the girl. (Lousy mattresses! She and her husband only sold top of the line, quality mattresses!)

"Austin, honey!" Mimi called to him before he could disappear upstairs to his room.

Sighing, Austin retraced his footsteps back down the stairs and turned to look at his mother who was stretching her legs out on the sofa. "Yeah, Mom?" he asked.

"Do you remember your Cousin Anna's friend, Rebecca?"

Should he? Anna was six and he only met her friend Rebecca because he had to babysit them after school one day. That was a great day, Austin mused, thinking back to it. He had pawned the kids off on Ally and played video games with Dez instead. Shaking his head no in answer, Austin prayed that he wouldn't have to babysit them again or that his mother and his Aunt Mildred hadn't of found out that he had pawned the kids off on Ally. Little girls were good at saying what they weren't supposed to, even if they were given fifty dollars so they would keep quiet.

"Well, its Rebecca's birthday on Saturday and I kind of owe her mother a favor," Mimi explained. "And it turns out that Rebecca is quite the Austin Moon fan." Austin knew he wouldn't like what was coming next. "So I promised her that you would perform at Rebecca's birthday party on Saturday afternoon."

"Mom, I can't!" Austin exclaimed. "I have a date with Ally!"

Mimi frowned. "I'm sorry, sweetie. You'll just have to reschedule. Ally will understand."

Of course Ally would understand. That was the problem! If Ally wasn't the understanding type, she'd get all mad and threaten to break up with him if he rescheduled the date. Then he could go back to his mother and say that he couldn't perform at a seven year olds birthday party because his future happiness depended it.

"Fine," Austin grumbled, rushing up the stairs so he could call Ally.

Flopping onto his bed, Austin pressed the call button on his cell phone and held the device to his ear. He took comfort in the ringing on the other end as he tried to think of something to say to Ally. Her voice was chipper when she answered and although he couldn't see her, he knew that she was smiling.

"So listen," he slowly drawled out. "We'll need to take a rain check for Saturday."

"What?" he heard her sigh into the phone. "Why?"

"I have to perform at a seven year olds birthday party. I don't want to, but my mom's making me!" He was speaking fast into the phone and he wondered if Ally could understand everything he was saying. "Say no and I can go to my mom and say that I can't because my future happiness depends on it! She'll buy that! I'm her favorite child! She wants me to be happy!"

Okay, so he was her only child. But that's not important.

Ally laughed again. He liked her laugh. It was cute. "Of course we can reschedule, Austin," she assured him.

_Damn it, _Austin thought to himself. Now there was no way that he could get out of this child's birthday party. _Unless- _Hey, that was a good idea. He'd get his date with Ally and a bunch of munchkins could still hear him sing. "Do you want to go with me to the birthday party?"

Although he couldn't see her, he knew she was rolling her eyes at his question. It wasn't the date he had pictured, but it wouldn't be that bad. If he could spend the afternoon with her.

"Sure," he heard her sigh into the phone again. "If it'll make you happy."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He enthusiastically thanked her over the phone. "If you weren't so far away right now, I would kiss you!"

"You can do that later, Lover Boy."

She laughed again before the line went dead.

**xXx**

Was Ally always so beautiful, or was it because she was wearing his favorite color? Similar thoughts invaded Austin's mind as he held Ally's hand in his as they walked up to the front door of the house. Ally was on his right, while he carried his guitar with his left hand. Nervously, he sent a glance in Ally's direction as she politely rang the doorbell. While it may sound rather cliché, Ally was his soul mate. It was like they were destined to be together.

Even when they were determined that they didn't make a good couple, they couldn't go long without reconciling. So Austin prayed to whatever almighty deities he could think of everyday to ask that things didn't get awkward with Ally this time around.

And he wondered if she did too by the way she bit the inside of her lip, holding his hand, but never quite looking at him; afraid that if she did, things would become unbearably awkward again.

Before any thoughts of his relationship with Ally derailing so quickly like their last try at lovers could take over his thoughts completely, a brunette woman answered the door. Smiling, she instantly recognized Austin.

Well, she should. Everyone recognized Austin Moon, except for his great uncle with Alzheimer's.

"It's so good you could make it!" she exclaimed, allowing them to enter the house. "Rebecca will be so excited that you're here."

Austin quickly introduced Ally and the two teenagers followed the woman to the backyard where a bunch of six and seven year olds was running around and squealing in delight as they chased each other. The kids were so engrossed in each other; they didn't even realize their favorite pop star had arrived. And Austin was okay with that. It meant he got some alone time with Ally. Taking a seat at a picnic table, Ally leaned closer to Austin and rested her head on his shoulder. Silence remained between them as neither had something to say. Though, Ally didn't think it was an awkward silence. At least she didn't until Austin spoke.

"This is weird."

Yup, let the awkwardness begin.

They'd be back to being just friends by dinner time.

Quite alarmed by Austin's statement, Ally picked her head up from his shoulder and scooted farther away from him so they weren't in such a close proximity. Maybe, a little space could stop the inevitable end to their relationship as if it were a speeding train meant to derail from the tracks? Yet Ally still kept her hand linked with Austin's, just wanting to feel him near.

It was funny. Before she and Austin started dating, she always thought that hand holding was like a brand, showing ownership for the world to see. But that wasn't so. She didn't hold his hand to show the world that Austin Moon was hers. The world didn't need to know. She held his hand to feel him near. It was like an external bond that linked two hearts together. And more importantly, it was a way of communicating without words.

Just like the way Austin was squeezing her hand now, silently telling her that he wanted her close to him.

A flicker of hope sparkled in her brown eyes and she quickly glanced up at him. Austin glanced down at her. "I wasn't talking about us!" he exclaimed, "I meant that a first date at some kid's birthday party is weird! Not me and you is-"

He was rather adorable when he rambled.

Ally opened her mouth to reply, but before any words could form in her brain, she was interrupted by shrill voices squealing in delight.

"Austin Moon!"

And the rugrats finally realized their favorite pop star was in attendance. Come Monday, the kids at this birthday party would be the envy of the entire elementary school.

As the mob of squealing children rapidly approached the teenage duo, Austin leaned closer to Ally and whispered, "Do you have something I can sign autographs with?" Chuckling, Ally rummaged through her purse and pulled out a sharpie marker.

After signing just about everything the kids could think of, Austin handed the marker back to Ally just as they pulled him into their game of tag. Helplessly, he glanced back in Ally's direction.

Ally didn't mind the solitude as they children roped Austin into playing with them. It meant that she was able to let her thoughts drift. At the age of seventeen, Ally didn't think too much about the future domestically. She didn't think about marriage or having kids or anything like that. But watching Austin now sparked a small change within Ally. Watching Austin interact with these young kids made Ally realize that he would make a great dad one day. And she wanted to experience that with him.

Okay, now it was official. She was crazy for thinking about marrying Austin when she didn't even know for sure what life had in store for them later on down the road. Besides before she could even think about marriage she had to graduate high school first and get into a good university.

Shaking her head to advert her thoughts, Ally quickly thought about whatever else came to mind, anything but Austin. But not thinking about Austin was hard. He was always on her mind. That proved to be even truer when Austin's six year old cousin Anna came up next to her.

"Are you gonna marry, Austin?"

Anna Moon was quite outspoken, just like her cousin.

Should this little girl even know what she's saying? When Ally was her age, she wanted to marry her dad.

Unsure of what to say, Ally wracked her brain for something to say that wouldn't confuse the six year old. "Um," she said unsure of what to say exactly. "It's not that simple."

Anna's big brown eyes looked up at Ally in confusion. "Why not?" She asked, as if everything had a simple answer. "He likes you."

If only it were that simple, Ally mused. After all, how many couples dreamed about forever with each other, only to have bitter unreconciled break ups? Still, the child's view of love was so simple and so Ally replied, "If I marry Austin, it won't be for a long, long, long, time."

Like a very long time. She had to finish high school and then go on for a bachelor's degree which might take five years to complete.

Anna seemed content with that answer and didn't ask any more questions.

What would Austin say when she relayed this conversation to him later?

Maybe she shouldn't. She doesn't want him to run.

And so the teenager and the little girl were both content to sit there until Rebecca's mother brought out a unicorn shaped piñata. All the kids rushed over to it, wanting to be the one to crack it open. Austin and Ally locked eyes, wanting to continue their conversation.

"Winner gets to be Princess for a day!" Rebecca exclaimed and Ally found herself being eagerly pulled along by Anna.

"Come on, Ally! Let's go!" And Ally went along to humor the little girl. It's not like she'd be the one to crack the piñata open to disperse the candy on the ground.

One by one, starting with Rebecca, the birthday girl, each kid took turns swinging a broom handle at the piñata. Finally, it was Ally's turn and allowed the kids to blindfold her and twirl her around in circles before pointing her in the direction of the candy stuffed object.

_Crack!_

Just her luck, Ally mused taking the blindfold off. Sure enough, the unicorn had fallen to the ground, broke in half, dumping its contents on the ground. While the other kids dived for the assorted candy, Anna and Rebecca tugged on Ally's arm until she dropped to their . Stooping so that she was at their height, Ally watched the little girls place a purple tiara on her head.

It probably came out of a McDonald's Happy Meal.

"Ally, you make a pretty princess," Rebecca commented.

The kid was right, Austin mused. Ally did make a pretty princess, especially with that captivating smile of hers. So, without her knowing, he snapped a picture of her with his smartphone.

"Wouldn't you much rather be the princess, Rebecca?" Ally asked the little girl. "It is your birthday."

"No!" Rebecca shook her head. "I am a princess! Right, Mommy?" The little girl's mother nodded. "So, you get to be the princess today!"

It was probably best if she decided not to argue with the logic of a little girl. So, Ally accepted her role of princess for a day and wandered back to Austin. The pop star wasn't able to take his eyes off the princess as he slipped his hand around hers and led her away from the crowd of kids.

"I didn't mean us is weird," he told her. "I like us."

"I like us too," Ally replied, a subtle blush creeping along her cheeks.

"I just meant that when I pictured our first date in my head, it wasn't like this."

Ally nodded in agreement to his statement. It wasn't how she had pictured their first date either. But she liked it. For them, it almost felt fitting because they were Austin and Ally. When did they ever do things normal?

Smiling, Ally stood on her toes to add a few inches to her height. Caressing his cheek with her long fingers, she gently pressed her lips against his. The kiss was short and so it wasn't long until she pulled away from Austin, still not letting the fingers of their clasped hands untangle.

"Let's write a song," she suggested with a smiled gracing her lips.

Raising his eyebrows, Austin was surprised to hear how quickly she wanted to try writing a song into their relationship. The last time turned out disastrous. But he had faith if they stayed honest with each other, they could make it through anything. So, he replied with the first thing that popped into his head whenever she suggested writing a new song.

"About what?"

Her already captivating smile grew even wider and her chocolate brown eyes sparkled with mirth. "How about fairytales and first dates?" she answered.

Chuckling at her answer, Austin's hazel colored eyes also danced with mirth as he stooped down to kiss her again. However, before their lips could meet, the hostess of the party, Rebecca's mother called out.

"Who's ready to sing happy birthday?"

Huffing, Austin stepped back and shrugged his shoulders, wishing that he and Ally weren't always being interrupted. Glancing at the excited children before turning his attention back on Ally, he said, "That's my cue."

No, her life could not be compared to the fairytales she had grown up admiring and she would never know what it's like to be swept off her feet by Prince Charming. But, her life was better than those fairytales and Austin Moon didn't sweep princesses or damsels in distress off their feet and save the day.

He stole their songs before stealing their hearts.


End file.
